Printed words magazine1111 by Alyssa is Reading

Issue No. 1

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ISSUE NO. JULY 2016

F R O M T HE E DITOR Hello fellow lovers of fiction! We all share an interest, and possibly a passion, for the printed word.

Alyssa /alyssaisreading

contents

Interview............. ........................20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Interview............. ....... ..................................20 . . ........................... . . . . Interview............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 . . . . . Interview............. .............. ..................... ................ ...........................20 Interview.....................................................................................................20 . . . Interview............. ............................................................. ...........................20 Interview................................ ...................... ............................................20 Interview.....................................................................................................20 . . . Interview............. ............................................................. ...........................20 Interview................................ ...................... ............................................20 Interview.....................................................................................................20 . . . Interview............. ............................................................. ...........................20 ............ . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . .. . . . . . . . . .

reasons you get into

Reading Slumps

1. BINGE WATCHING Binge watching is basically the reason I fall into an anything slump. I am a huge TV person, I watch a variety of shows and it is never good when I discover a new one, especially a Netflix show (because all their episodes are released in one day, giving me no limits). I’m sure everyone has fallen into a reading slump because of a good show, and if you haven’t: you haven’t found the right show.

2. BOOKISH HEARTBREAK My longest reading slump was over a year. It was mostly because of TFIOS (The Fault In Our Stars). I wasn’t much of an avid reader back then, I only read series’ that I liked and I didn’t really explore books. Someone recommended TFIOS to me and it was the first book that made me afraid to read anything else because I didn’t want to feel all of those emotions again. When I joined the bookish community, I discovered a whole range of books that will make you feel 10000+ more emotions than TFIOS, and yup, I avoided those for a long time. Some I am still avoiding (I’m looking at you, The Last Time We Said Goodbye).

3. SCHOOL Good ol’ school.. The number one reason I usually can’t do everything I’d want to: sleep, binge watch, read, etc. Being in my last year of high school, everything gets pretty hectic. Going into senior year, the workload really hit me, it wasn’t a gradual build. I don’t think school would be a big issue if there’s a good schedule for doing school work.

4. PROCRASTINATION I’ve split this into two sections: 1) procrastinating from something else and 2) procrastinating from a bad book. Usually when I’m putting off other work such as school or chores, I pick up a book. Though I’m not always 100% concentrating because those tasks are haunting my head, resulting me in having to read over and over again because the story isn’t sinking in. In other cases, I tend to put off reading because I am in the middle of the book that I simply can’t seem to enjoy and, for some reason, won’t put it on the DNF list.

5. TIME Sometimes, there are other things more important to do. It could be work, school, chores, social events, family events. This is a really simple, though unlikely (for me), reason. In some cases, there is no time for reading.

6. IT STARTS FEELING LIKE WORK I usually stop doing things I love to do when they start to feel like work. In some cases, when I have to finish a book by a certain time or have a blog post for it done by a certain time, I tend to put it off, for the one reason that it has a due date attached to it. I hope it’s not just me.

MY FIRST YEAR ON

Bookstagram

I joined bookstagram unknowingly.

@alyssaisreading Instagram

& QA 18

How important is it for your feed to have a theme? -@ It’s not 100% important to me. I like having consistency in my photos to have an good look at the overall feed. Though if I have taken a photo that I love, yet doesn’t match my theme, I will still post it. Aside from sharing your love for books and possibly meeting new friends, do you have other reasons for joining the world of bookstagram? THE PRETTY PHOTOS! A And also the creativity. I bet most of the people who are on bookstagram not only have a love for books but also love photography. It’s so nice to just scroll through the feed and see everyone’s photos, how creative and colourful they are. Plus, it’s another method for me to find new books. It’s a great place for publicity, especially for new authors. Do you change posts according to what your followers would like to see or to what you prefer to see? I hardly ever post according to what my followers would want to see. I usually post from my monthly prompts or I found a photo I took from a while back but never posted. Do you ever feel tempted to post something that doesn’t match your feed, and how do you make sure everything matches? Not all of my photos match. Sometimes I go out to a restaurant and the food just looks so good that I like pairing it with a book and the table would be a darker colour which is a complete contrast to my white bedsheets. But it doesn’t stop me from posting it, if it’s a good photo, I will share it with everyone J

How often do you post? Do you post pictures with a certain time-frame in mind, or is it spontaneous? Always spontaneous. There’s no specific time where I post but I try to post everyday. What would you say are the top 5 elements of running a successful bookstagram account? For me, the top 5 elements are: 1. GOOD LIGHTING - all photos have good lighting, natural lighting is your friend as I’ve said many times before. 2. POST REGULARLY - if not everyday, every 2-3 days. Or explain if you will be MIA for a while. 3. INTERACTION - make sure to interact with your followers and with other bookstagrammers as well, maybe by collaborating for something or just to take about that one plot twist that you can’t stop thinking about 4. AESTHETICS - aesthetically pleasing photos are the best kinda photos, where the layout is on point, if there is a central image, it is clear what that image is, etc. 5. MAKE IT YOURS - despite number 1 and 4, make your bookstagram feed your own, post what you’d like and how you’d like. Basically be yourself J Who do you follow? Do you follow people soley on feeds and if they inspire you, irregardless of whether they follow you back? I follow accounts that I think have really good and pretty photos, yes, irregardless of whether they follow me back. Also accounts that have good interaction with their own followers. A few of my favourite accounts are @bookwormaniac, @celinereads, @sammyreadsbooks and @ourbookworlds L

BOOKWORM BOUTIQUE PERFECT GIFTS FOR BOOKWORMS

the best covers of 2015

glass sword

by victoria aveyard marta / b o ok coyote

@bookcoyote

First of all, I need to mention I felt very sceptical towards Glass Sword and didn’t grab it at the same moment the second part of Red Queen was released. I needed a few months to prepare, find some time I could waste (if a book would turn out as another disappointment) until finally, I saw Glass Sword on a bookshelf in my school library and thought, why not? I don’t hide that I didn’t like Red Queen at all. It is too overrated, sounds like a mix of other dystopias, I don’t see a strong romance in it. It’s not awful, but it’s definitely not a masterpiece worth of all that worshiping it got lately. So, of course, when I started reading Glass Sword, I had a pre-opinion already, which was blown away just after the very first pages of an amazing, not repeatable and outstanding Glass Sword. Mara is out of the jail, free from Maven, who turns out to be a real monster. She ran away with Scarlet Guard soldiers and was taken to the island, together with another one prince - Cal. Mare’s brother Shade is alive, that’s heartbreaking news, her other two brothers, also.

But Mara is not that kind of girl, who more likely stays with her family, trying to be as safe as possible. You know, I’ve seen so many opinions about Mare’s selfishness and her being too self-centered, but the truth is that she is not a hero, and that is said quite clearly from the very beginning. You want to see a hero, who always sacrifices herself over the others, but the fact that Mare doesn’t act like a hero is my favourite part about her. I would actually call her an antihero. She is cruel, she is selfless, she is self-centered, she is unstable, but just imagine yourself in her place. Not pretend to imagine, but actually imagine yourself in the middle of civil war, having a power that can kill and destroy, and being a teen girl with a lot of expectations and different look at the world. Mare is sure that the things she does are right. Mare knows that she is important and that’s obvious she actually is important. She has powers that can make a lot of great things. Those people wouldn’t have done so much without that girl. So yeah, I give Mare the complete right to feel selfless and self-centered.

Of course, I don’t remember much plot from Red Queen, since it has been a half a year I read it, but while reading Glass Sword it wasn’t a problem since the sequel actually looks almost as a new story of Mare and her friends. I mean yeah, we need to know the pre-history of Mare and her powers, but if you didn’t read the first book, I don’t think it would be a huge problem to start from Glass Sword. Actually, I wish Glass Sword would be the first part of this series. As long as I can’t change it (that means forever), let’s stop talking about all the ifs and concentrate more on Mare’s character, and, of course, my dear lovebirds, Mare and Cal! As I’ve mentioned before (it seems like I've repeated it thousand times already), Mare is selfless. That can be felt in the book really strongly. I mean, she practically forgets her family. I would be pissed because of that, but I loved the fact that Mare kind of is angry at herself, too. She knows she is selfless, self-centered, she even mentions that she actually forgets her family sometimes, and I just adore characters, who is honest with themselves. The same moment I start to think something bad about Mare, she thinks that also and I am just left there, admiring how amazing and self-critical this girl is. I guess every reader always is seeking to find the strongest protagonist. I mean, how many of them just cry the whole book. I loved Penryn from Angelfall, she was the strongest character by that time, but then I met Mare. Not in Red Queen, but in Glass Sword. She actually reveals there as a very strong protagonist. At the back of the room, the exiled prince gets to his feet. He holds my gaze, as if his eyes alone could set me on fire. A waste. There is nothing in me left to burn. At the same moment, Cal is also very strong character. I love it that he is quite cold with everyone, not reveals his true plans, and most of all, he doesn’t change his beliefs. A lot of characters I’ve met before, especially typical bad-boys, always change. At first, they say one, and then a good girl comes, talks with them, so they disavow their thoughts. I don’t know how to express what I have in my mind. I just simply liked that Cal, who was taught one thing the whole life, didn’t believe that this thing is the wrong one so quickly. Yes, he changes

his opinion about Reds a little, but his people, Silvers, are still more important to him. When you think about that, it may seem like a bad thing, but still, I don’t think that Cal should join Scarlet Guard and Mare’s revolution (although he kinda joins it). At least not so quickly. He’s still a prince and the throne will always be the primary thing to him. He still thinks like a ruler in Glass Sword. Now, winter looms, and I’m the girl who stole his life. Also, Cal makes Mare look more realistic character. At the end of the second book, he kind of spits out everything all the readers thought about Mare and I just loved it. He is very rational and cold-minded, very different from what he seemed to be in Red Queen, though. I can never forget what burns beneath his skin, the rage that fuels him, and how strong they both are. Speaking of Cal and Mare together… well, that’s a bomb. A bomb which was very neutral in the first book, a bomb which was threatening to explode in the second book, and, I hope, will actually explode in the third one. Honestly, I remember liking Cal and Mare in Red Queen, but not being very hooked up by them. When I started scrolling through this ship on Tumblr, I saw how many people were hooked up by Mare and MAVEN. I mean, yeah, Maven was a cute little monster in the first book, but, still, I’ve only seen him as a child. In Glass Sword, Cal and Mare retreated from each other a little, they didn’t talk about their relationship much, and that’s normal since they both betrayed each other, and they were betrayed by Maven, too. But their couple still is very delicate and just… amazing. They fit each other, they are both very cold and smart and they were a great team through the whole book. Maven, at the same moment, reveals as an even more cruel character, although he doesn’t show in the book much. Still, I really hate him. I kind of even tried to like him, to imagine him ending up with Mare somehow, but no. Though I really love broken characters, but Maven is just simply annoying. What more? I’m probably repeating myself, but I really really loved how realistic Glass Sword is, although, it’s

I am Marta, a book blogger, at the moment working with my country's biggest publishers. I love to discover new authors and their works, but the most enjoyable genre for me is dystopian one, that's why I present my review for Glass Sword. bookcoyote.tumblr.com

@bookcoyote

The Sapphire is a personal blog that I started after finishing high school. It's a medium through which I can explore different topics that I like to ponder and write about, and connect and be inspired by people with a passion for writing. Having blogged for 8 months now, I cherish how working on this personal project of mine has become a cathartic means of creating something in any way I want it to be. And it's something that I love sharing with anyone with a love for reading and writing.

the vinyl detective by andrew cartmel

l isa / whatever happ ene d to l isa

@whateverhappenedtolisa

The first time I heard about this book was in an interview with the author Andrew Cartmel in the german Doctor Who podcast ‘Whocast’. The latest work of the former Doctor Who Script Editor is called ‘The Vinyl Detective -Written in Dead Wax. It was published on May 10th this year by Titan Books. Here’s a short blurb: “He is a record collector - a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. Some end up on his turntable, some are sold at a handsome profit, and all sound a hell of a lot better than any digital recording. His business card describes him as the “Vinyl Detective” and certain people take this more literally than others. Like the mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording - on behalf of a wealthy, shadowy and somewhat sinister client. Given that he’s just about to run out of cat food, this gets our hero’s full attention. So begins a dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz records of them all...”

Our nameless protagonist is sent to find a super rare jazz album in his first case. But he is not the only one looking for it and his opponents are not shy of using violence to get what they want. This record is part of a huge secret that threatens to shake the complete music industry to the chore...

This book is made very clever because it actually consists of two stories that build up on each other, like side A and B of a record if you like. There were no plotholes whatsoever and the pace of the story was never too fast or too slow. The characters off the 477 page book grew close to my heart very fast and I was suffering in each charity shop, at each record fair if they’d finally find the record. ‘Written in Dead Wax’ had this very ‘homely’ feeling for me right from the beginning; a feeling that I always get when I read or reread a favorite book (series) of mine, for example Harry Potter or Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. Speaking of Rivers of London, Cartmel is co-writing the comics that acompanion the books with his colleague Aaronovitch, who has, like Cartmel, nothing else than Doctor Who in his writing credits. I guess it’s no surprise that I’m giving 5/5 stars for this book. I’m really looking forward of the next part in this series. So, if you like jazz music, listening to music on vinyl, cats, or simply enjoy a great crime novel, this is for you. I recommend having a cup of coffee and some good jazz while reading this.

Hi, my name is Lisa, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 19 and I live in Germany. Besides reading, my hobbies include singing, going to concerts and traveling. I mainly write about books, but sometimes I ramble about music, movies and other stuff I like too. whateverhappenedtolisa.blogspot.de

@bookcoyote

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